Sweet 16 | McCracken County upsets Wayne County

LEXINGTON, Ky. – In its first year of existence, McCracken County High School pulled off the first shocker of the state tournament.

The Mustangs had four players score in double figures and were deadly from the free-throw line in knocking off Wayne County 81-74 on Thursday in the first round of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.

McCracken County (25-8) — which opened last fall after the merging of Heath, Lone Oak and Reidland — entered the tournament ranked last of the 16 teams in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings. Wayne County, ranked No. 7 in the state, finished 31-2.

“Nobody expected us to win this game, and we all knew we were going to be able to come in here and play well and we did,” Mustangs senior guard Jared Burnett said. “I love that we did this for our students.”

Burnett scored 23 points and joined Caleb Stonecipher (20 points), Kam Chumbler (19) and Jason Armstrong (11) in double figures. The Mustangs made 34 of 43 free throws (79.1 percent), setting a Sweet 16 record for free throws made in a game.

“That was big because if we don’t hit our free throws that game gets a lot tighter,” said Mustangs coach Burlin Brower, whose team entered the game shooting 67.8 percent from the charity stripe. “And if it does get tight, anything can happen.”

Trey Blevins scored 24 points and Peyton Woods added 17 for the Cardinals, who had three starters foul out in the second half. Two of them — Jason Perkins and Corey Stearns — picked up their third fouls in the first quarter.

“We’ve been able to do that all year,” Wayne County coach Rodney Woods said of letting his starters play through foul trouble. “We feel like we’re disciplined enough to not foul.”

The Mustangs made four of their first five shots to take a 12-2 lead and never trailed.

Perkins’ 3-pointer pulled the Cardinals within 40-38 with 5:35 left in the third quarter, but the Mustangs answered with an 8-2 run for a 48-40 advantage with 2:57 left. Wayne County never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

McCracken County hit 22 of 26 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

“From what we had seen, they only went six deep,” Brower said of Wayne County. “We wanted to get them in foul trouble, and I think that played a big part in it.”

Rodney Woods called it one of the most disappointing losses of his 37 seasons as coach.

“Those guys just kicked us every way they could kick us,” he said. “I’m sure a lot of people are wondering how we got here after watching that today. I’m disappointed people didn’t see the basketball team we have.”

Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and on Twitter @kyhighs.